Elkman
Senior Member
A dually only makes sense for towing a 5th wheel trailer with a weight greater than 7,000 kg. More than 80% of the pickups pulling 5th wheel travel trailers on the highways are using a SRW truck.
Diesel only makes sense when towing more than 5,000 kg trailer loads. Otherwise the extra cost for the engine and the maintenance and service and repairs is far higher than any fuel savings.
With my 2500 diesel I gained 30% more miles between fuel stops and out in the western USA that is important. But I still have had to be careful and plan my fuel stops at towns where there were gas stations that pumped diesel as most do not.
With the current state of diesel engine emissions systems the vehicles are far less reliable. I had 3 trips cut short thanks to problems with the DEF system, NOx sensor, and programming bugs.
I stopped using the truck for out of town trips as having it go into limp mode and trying to merge with traffic while going 55mph onto the freeways was very dangerous.
Diesel only makes sense when towing more than 5,000 kg trailer loads. Otherwise the extra cost for the engine and the maintenance and service and repairs is far higher than any fuel savings.
With my 2500 diesel I gained 30% more miles between fuel stops and out in the western USA that is important. But I still have had to be careful and plan my fuel stops at towns where there were gas stations that pumped diesel as most do not.
With the current state of diesel engine emissions systems the vehicles are far less reliable. I had 3 trips cut short thanks to problems with the DEF system, NOx sensor, and programming bugs.
I stopped using the truck for out of town trips as having it go into limp mode and trying to merge with traffic while going 55mph onto the freeways was very dangerous.
